Apple's Grand Central Terminal Retail Store to Open as Soon as Black Friday?

Monday November 21, 2011 7:31 am PST by Eric Slivka

Rendering of Apple's Grand Central Terminal retail store

9to5Mac reports that Apple is set to announce tomorrow its plans for opening the company's new retail store in the historic Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. Apple had been said to be trying to get the store open by mid-November for the holiday shopping season, but it still appears to be unclear whether it will have the store open in time for Black Friday later this week.

From what we have now heard, Apple will be filling the store with stock and applying the finishing touches this week putting the the actual opening of the store on Black Friday or shortly thereafter. The goal all along has been to get the store open for the holiday shopping and to make a big splash with Apple’s new crown jewel of retail.

The store's 300 staff members have been in training for some time now, and are currently dispersed to other New York City stores for final training ahead of the store opening.

Photo from techfootnote

techfootnote grabbed some photos of the black screening surrounding the under-construction store, which reveal some large panels on the front of the barrier that are said to potentially be hiding large video display boards to highlight the store's opening.

That store is going be crazy busy with folks just killing time on the internet waiting for the train. Seems like it is going to closer to one big advertisement than an actual store. On the other hand, I could see a lot of folks just grabbing an Air on the way home, very convenient.

That's what all the Apple stores are about. It wouldn't surprise me if 60-70% of patrons are already Apple owners simply checking email or checking out a new app.

But eventually, those 30-40% who aren't Apple owners decide to buy something because they feel comfortable. And once they buy one, the others follow. Back when Apple first decided to open their own stores, I was a naysayer, even though I agreed that most other dealers presented Apple badly. But you can't aruge with massive success and they've maintained that success in spite of the fact that they've opened up selling in the mass merchants as well.

I think there's a fairly large body of commuters who walk (or ride) from their offices to Grand Central, are always in a rush and unless they visit an Apple store in a mall on a weekend, never get to an Apple store. This Grand Central store will service them and I think eventually will lead to big sales especially since a lot of those commuters live in the gold coasts of Westchester and Connecticut. But most commuters at Grand Central don't have a long wait - during rush hour, the trains leave every 15-20 minutes or so, so that could be an issue or it could help because one could simply wait for the next train.

there is without a doubt a few or one giant monitor behind those black panels. Here are two pics I took just before getting on the train. One of the panels is moving and you can see behind.. Where there is a giant white display and what looks like a train schedule type of video playing.. Here are the pics. I tried to walk up and get closer but was denied! The third pic is from behind the panels .. And it looks like the displays are built in glass. Sorry for the poor quality photos.

That store is going be crazy busy with folks just killing time on the internet waiting for the train. Seems like it is going to closer to one big advertisement than an actual store. On the other hand, I could see a lot of folks just grabbing an Air on the way home, very convenient.

I see the opportunity for a new sport to come out of this store - called Apple Tossing. It could be played with as few as 2, as many as 20. One person (or more depending upon total number of "tossers" that you want to be stationed in the store while the other team members would be stationed down below in the station. The point of the game would be to grab and toss as many Apple products as they can to the team members waiting below.

Now of course, it's always better to be the catcher, where you simply need to catch the products, keep them from breaking and then run out of the station as quickly as you can. For the "tosser", chances are pretty good that Apple will not appreciate the game and may "detain" you and end the game. Extra points would be given for those tossers who themselves jump down (with products in hand of course) to be "caught" by team members below and not "caught" by Apple team members or NYPD team members either. Given the rules of the game are pretty loose right now, use of blockers is ok as is wire cutters.

There may only be one chance to play this game before the rules change, so let's see who forms the first team.

First of all, the picture you're seeing above is only a rendering. We don't know if it will be set up that way. Second, ever since those planes hit the towers, Grand Central is one of the most heavily guarded public places in NYC.

This is going to be another beautiful NYC Apple Store. Grand Central Terminal is just so gorgeous, and I'm glad that a tasteful company like Apple will be the one occupying the space. I'm excited to see what they do with it.

Also, just a brief note. The rendered image included in the original post appears to be in a different location in GCT than the actual store that is under construction now. The real location is the landing visible on the left side of the rendered image, partially obscured by the massive stone column.

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